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Stand in the Schoolhouse Door
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Stand in the Schoolhouse Door
The Stand in the Schoolhouse Door took place at Foster Auditorium at the University of Alabama on June 11, 1963. In a symbolic attempt to keep his inaugural promise of "segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever" and stop the desegregation of schools, George Wallace, the Democratic Governor of Alabama, stood at the door of the auditorium as if to block the way of the two African American students attempting to enter: Vivian Malone and James Hood.
In response, President John F. Kennedy issued Executive Order 11111, which federalized the Alabama National Guard, and Guard General Henry V. Graham then commanded Wallace to step aside. Wallace spoke further, but eventually moved, and Malone and Hood completed their registration. The incident brought Wallace into the national spotlight.
On May 17, 1954, the Supreme Court of the United States handed down its decision in Brown v. Board of Education, which held that the education of black children in separate public schools from their white counterparts violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Brown meant that the University of Alabama had to be desegregated. In the years following, hundreds of African-Americans applied for admission, but with one brief exception, all were denied. The university worked with police to find any disqualifying qualities, or when this failed, intimidated the applicants. But, in 1963, three African-Americans—Vivian Malone Jones, Dave McGlathery and James Hood—applied. In early June federal district judge Seybourn H. Lynne ordered that they be admitted, and forbade Governor Wallace from interfering, but did not grant the request that Wallace be barred from the campus.
Wallace privately signaled to the Kennedy administration his intention to avoid fomenting violence, such as had occurred in the September 1962 Battle of Oxford with the desegregation of the University of Mississippi. The head of the Alabama State Police, Albert Lingo, who reported directly to Wallace, warned leaders of the Ku Klux Klan that their members would be arrested if they appeared in Tuscaloosa. Bull Connor, the chief of Birmingham Police, also told Klan members to spread word that Wallace wanted no crowds to gather in the town. Wallace's speechwriter and top aide, Asa Carter, himself a top Klan official, personally visited Edward R. Fields, a leader of the National States' Rights Party, a white supremacist group, also to tell him to stay away from the event. However, Wallace refused to talk directly to Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy when he called to learn of Wallace's plans.
On the eve of the incident, the U.S. Justice Department tried to discredit Wallace by leaking to a Newsday reporter the private health information that the Governor was receiving government payments related to a psychiatric disability suffered while flying in bombing missions over Japan during World War II. Wallace confirmed the disability, but Newsday editors refused to run the story.
On June 11, Malone and Hood pre-registered in the morning at the Birmingham courthouse. They selected their courses and filled out all their forms there. They arrived at Foster Auditorium to have their course loads reviewed by advisors and pay their fees. Kennedy administration officials, struggling with a potentially violent situation, considered simply bypassing Foster Auditorium and having Malone and Hood escorted directly to their dorm rooms. But given reports of an agitated Wallace, Robert Kennedy told Deputy Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach, "You'd better give him his show because I'm concerned if he doesn't have it ... that God knows what could happen by way of violence."
Administration officials also concluded the best optics would be to present the matter as a conflict between state and federal authority, not a racial confrontation between the white governor and the black students. Further, by keeping the students away from the doorway, the administration was not forced to charge Wallace with contempt of a federal court order. So it was that Malone and Hood remained in their vehicle as Wallace, attempting to uphold his promise as well as for political show, blocked the entrance to Foster Auditorium with the media watching. Then, flanked by federal marshals, Katzenbach told Wallace to step aside. However, Wallace interrupted Katzenbach and gave a speech on states' rights.
Katzenbach called President John F. Kennedy, who had previously issued a presidential proclamation demanding that Wallace step aside, and told Kennedy of Wallace's actions in ignoring the proclamation as, according to Wallace, it had no legal force. In response, Kennedy issued Executive Order 11111, which had already been prepared, authorizing the federalization of the Alabama National Guard under the Insurrection Act of 1807. Four hours later, Guard General Henry Graham commanded Wallace to step aside, saying, "Sir, it is my sad duty to ask you to step aside under the orders of the President of the United States." Wallace then spoke further, but eventually moved, and Malone and Hood completed their registration.
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Stand in the Schoolhouse Door
The Stand in the Schoolhouse Door took place at Foster Auditorium at the University of Alabama on June 11, 1963. In a symbolic attempt to keep his inaugural promise of "segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever" and stop the desegregation of schools, George Wallace, the Democratic Governor of Alabama, stood at the door of the auditorium as if to block the way of the two African American students attempting to enter: Vivian Malone and James Hood.
In response, President John F. Kennedy issued Executive Order 11111, which federalized the Alabama National Guard, and Guard General Henry V. Graham then commanded Wallace to step aside. Wallace spoke further, but eventually moved, and Malone and Hood completed their registration. The incident brought Wallace into the national spotlight.
On May 17, 1954, the Supreme Court of the United States handed down its decision in Brown v. Board of Education, which held that the education of black children in separate public schools from their white counterparts violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Brown meant that the University of Alabama had to be desegregated. In the years following, hundreds of African-Americans applied for admission, but with one brief exception, all were denied. The university worked with police to find any disqualifying qualities, or when this failed, intimidated the applicants. But, in 1963, three African-Americans—Vivian Malone Jones, Dave McGlathery and James Hood—applied. In early June federal district judge Seybourn H. Lynne ordered that they be admitted, and forbade Governor Wallace from interfering, but did not grant the request that Wallace be barred from the campus.
Wallace privately signaled to the Kennedy administration his intention to avoid fomenting violence, such as had occurred in the September 1962 Battle of Oxford with the desegregation of the University of Mississippi. The head of the Alabama State Police, Albert Lingo, who reported directly to Wallace, warned leaders of the Ku Klux Klan that their members would be arrested if they appeared in Tuscaloosa. Bull Connor, the chief of Birmingham Police, also told Klan members to spread word that Wallace wanted no crowds to gather in the town. Wallace's speechwriter and top aide, Asa Carter, himself a top Klan official, personally visited Edward R. Fields, a leader of the National States' Rights Party, a white supremacist group, also to tell him to stay away from the event. However, Wallace refused to talk directly to Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy when he called to learn of Wallace's plans.
On the eve of the incident, the U.S. Justice Department tried to discredit Wallace by leaking to a Newsday reporter the private health information that the Governor was receiving government payments related to a psychiatric disability suffered while flying in bombing missions over Japan during World War II. Wallace confirmed the disability, but Newsday editors refused to run the story.
On June 11, Malone and Hood pre-registered in the morning at the Birmingham courthouse. They selected their courses and filled out all their forms there. They arrived at Foster Auditorium to have their course loads reviewed by advisors and pay their fees. Kennedy administration officials, struggling with a potentially violent situation, considered simply bypassing Foster Auditorium and having Malone and Hood escorted directly to their dorm rooms. But given reports of an agitated Wallace, Robert Kennedy told Deputy Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach, "You'd better give him his show because I'm concerned if he doesn't have it ... that God knows what could happen by way of violence."
Administration officials also concluded the best optics would be to present the matter as a conflict between state and federal authority, not a racial confrontation between the white governor and the black students. Further, by keeping the students away from the doorway, the administration was not forced to charge Wallace with contempt of a federal court order. So it was that Malone and Hood remained in their vehicle as Wallace, attempting to uphold his promise as well as for political show, blocked the entrance to Foster Auditorium with the media watching. Then, flanked by federal marshals, Katzenbach told Wallace to step aside. However, Wallace interrupted Katzenbach and gave a speech on states' rights.
Katzenbach called President John F. Kennedy, who had previously issued a presidential proclamation demanding that Wallace step aside, and told Kennedy of Wallace's actions in ignoring the proclamation as, according to Wallace, it had no legal force. In response, Kennedy issued Executive Order 11111, which had already been prepared, authorizing the federalization of the Alabama National Guard under the Insurrection Act of 1807. Four hours later, Guard General Henry Graham commanded Wallace to step aside, saying, "Sir, it is my sad duty to ask you to step aside under the orders of the President of the United States." Wallace then spoke further, but eventually moved, and Malone and Hood completed their registration.
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